GUILTY PA - Howard Nicholson, newborn, fatally mauled by dog, McKeesport, 16 Feb 2012

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I love dogs and have 4 large ones. A person should NEVER leave one dog, much less 4, alone with a baby! She should have taken the baby to the bathroom with her.
 
I love my dog, I really do. And he has been a completely faithful companion to the entire family for over 3 years. And he still gets put in the bedroom when I have to leave the kids in the living room.

I also hesitate to have more than one dog at a time, for the fear of something like this; they get aggressive, they feel they have to defend their place in the pack, the whole idea makes me nervous. Once a dog mauls anything to death, it needs to be carefully evaluated, and even more carefully managed in the future, as it has already proven that it's not trustworthy. The last thing you do is leave that dog alone in the room with a newborn, or rather, with something that an aggressive dog will see as a potential threat to it's place in the pack.

I hate dog bite incidents, especially involving babies, no matter the breed of the dog. They are almost always preventable.
 
Another sad tale of a husky killing an infant here. The story's from Canada. Odd to see two huskies in the news at once, it being generally pit bulls who get the bad press.
 
I have always had dogs and my children grew up with all kinds of breeds.
Mostly large ones including a St. Bernard and a German Shepherd.
IMO, this dog had killed a cat/kitty. A newborn sounds like a cat/kitty
when it cries.
Could mom not hear this baby?
Wht did she leave him alone with a pit bull, husky and 2 other dogs?
Now she wants all 4 dogs and her boro only allows 2 dogs per house.
If a dog killed my baby, I would never want to look at any again, IMO.
Let alone the one that did it.
I'm a dog lover and hate to see this dog put down because this woman was stupid enough to let a newborn alone with it.
Maybe it should be adopted by a couple with no children in their lives.
 
I have always had dogs, including a few different full blooded German Shepherds. And i have always allowed my kids to play with the shepherds, once they became 5 or 6 yrs old. But I would never leave a newborn with ANY dog. Especially any FOUR dogs. What a devastating tragedy for everyone involved.

eta: My German Shepherds have always been females and have been very maternal towards our kids.
 
That poor dog doesn't look to be in too good of shape either. It was dumb to leave the baby on the floor with that many dogs in the house, especially with a new one who was injured and probably abused. It says they rescued the dog from Craigslist. Simple common sense could have prevented this. I'm sorry, but I feel bad for the dog too. It looked so pitiful standing on the porch.
 
No charges will be filed according to channel 4 WTAE news.
They want dogs back
Currently the mother has 2 violations in the past with dog violations.
IMO, she does not know how to treat dogs or children.
Take the husky away from her.
Seems something is 'off'.........
I'm thinking mom is very immature or something .
LE said she had 'no idea' she had to introduce the dogs to the baby.
 
Is that matting around the dog's neck? Do huskies even have enough fur to mat that way? I'm confused about that, and is that a homemade splint? It's weird that I would feel as bad for the dog as I do for the baby in a case like this, but he looks miserable and scared to death. So sad for everyone. Maybe the mom can be charged with neglect just so she's forced to take some parenting classes or something. For the next baby.
 
OMG - this is so sad and unnecessary. :( It's only common sense not to leave a dog in a room with a helpless newborn.

That's the bottom line for me - that baby was helpless! :maddening:

I have seen too many vicious dogfights in my life to ever have that many dogs around small children either. It's a disaster waiting to happen, no matter how sweet-tempered a dog usually is.

When I used to take my kids to the park and my youngest was still in a stroller, you'd be amazed at the number of people with large dogs who would come right up to the baby and let their dog sniff around or even try to lick the baby. I asked one woman to please remove her dog's head from my stroller and she said, very nonchalant: "Oh, he's just curious, so I thought I'd let him get acquainted."

Unbelievable. It's like certain people think babies and dogs are equals, and maybe they are both considered members of the family. But for goodness sake - loyalty should be to the baby not the dog. :cow: Dogs evolved from wolves and they still have those genes - would you leave a newborn out where wolves could find it? Of course not!
 
Thoughtfox, my cousin and I were walking on the beach with my 4 yr old niece and my 5 yr old son last summer and we had my brother's beagle and my lil dachsund with us. On leashes, of course. A lady with a huge dog, I knew the breed at the time but don't remember now, walked right up to us and I pulled my kids and dogs back and told the kids not to pet the dog. The lady said "Oh he's friendly" and then looked at my niece and said "Do you want to pet him?" Meanwhile my two dogs are going nuts because they are very protective of the kids. I told the lady that I am teaching my kids not to pet dogs they don't know and she got VERY offended, said to her dog "I guess these people don't like you (insert name here) and kind of stomped away. I mean, really? She couldn't see how this situation could turn very bad very quickly? People are idiots.

If you have to take a test to drive a car, why don't you have to also prove you can handle being a parent or owning a dog? Is it too much to ask that you have a brain in your head before you make yourself responsible for another life?
 
Flutterby80 said:
Thoughtfox, my cousin and I were walking on the beach with my 4 yr old niece and my 5 yr old son last summer and we had my brother's beagle and my lil dachsund with us. On leashes, of course. A lady with a huge dog, I knew the breed at the time but don't remember now, walked right up to us and I pulled my kids and dogs back and told the kids not to pet the dog. The lady said "Oh he's friendly" and then looked at my niece and said "Do you want to pet him?" Meanwhile my two dogs are going nuts because they are very protective of the kids. I told the lady that I am teaching my kids not to pet dogs they don't know and she got VERY offended, said to her dog "I guess these people don't like you (insert name here) and kind of stomped away. I mean, really? She couldn't see how this situation could turn very bad very quickly? People are idiots.

If you have to take a test to drive a car, why don't you have to also prove you can handle being a parent or owning a dog? Is it too much to ask that you have a brain in your head before you make yourself responsible for another life?
Click to expand...

I always taught my kids to be wary of unknown dogs too, not because I wanted them to be afraid of dogs, but because of the unpredictability factor.

One of our neighborhood kids was bitten badly by a Doberman. Her child-logic was that if she was nice to the doggy, the doggy would be nice to her. Nope.

And in case you're wondering, I am a dog owner, and I love my dog completely. But I don't let her bother kids, and I would never leave her alone with a baby.
 
We had a beloved husky in our family for 17 (!) years. She was extremely gentle, extraordinarily bright and beautiful, and it would NEVER have occurred to us to leave her alone with a baby or child. Huskys have strong prey drives, babies move and smell oddly and their own behaviour is unpredictable. It is grossly negligent to leave ANY dog alone with a baby, IMO, and perhaps this should be more widely broadcast.

We now own a Siberian cat. He gave both our baby boys a wide berth...

s
 
Flutterby80 said:
Is that matting around the dog's neck? Do huskies even have enough fur to mat that way? I'm confused about that, and is that a homemade splint? It's weird that I would feel as bad for the dog as I do for the baby in a case like this, but he looks miserable and scared to death. So sad for everyone. Maybe the mom can be charged with neglect just so she's forced to take some parenting classes or something. For the next baby.
Click to expand...

from what my husband I and viewed on TV, we have never seen such a splint.
When our standard poodle broke her leg she had a walking cast on like a human.
It was plaster and she wanted to chew it.
YES the dog did look miserable, sad and I feel that is most of the problem.
'As for the mother, well some people are just not right for parenting and iMO
it looks like the case here.
Please no more babies for her, JMOO
No mention of the dad????
 
Is it possible that the baby was killed by a parent and the dog is being blamed? I saw blunt force trauma but no mention of bites.
 
Flutterby80 said:
Is it possible that the baby was killed by a parent and the dog is being blamed? I saw blunt force trauma but no mention of bites.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the medical examiner will be able to figure it out. It is interesting that there is no mention of bites. Guess we'll have to wait for the autopsy results. Will be interested to see what it says.
 
I cannot believe how irresponsible these parents are. I have two alaskan malamutes. I never ever ever leave my two young children alone with them even when they were babies. Before, I came home from the hospital, I had my husband bring home a blanket our sons used and had them smell it, but not take it. He did this for a few days before we brought them home. When I came home with each of our sons, I let them sniff our sons and that was it. I did this daily and sat holding our son while they layed at my feet. They know the order of the family and that these are my babies and they are not to hurt them. They know their place. I still will never let them be alone with the children our any children who come over. They are loving dogs, but animals are animals. I love my malamutes, but will not chance anything happening to my kids.
 
When people "rescue" dogs they should have the funds to care for these dogs. The cast on the dog's leg looked homemade and I really doubt a vet put it on.
 
jjenny said:
When people "rescue" dogs they should have the funds to care for these dogs. The cast on the dog's leg looked homemade and I really doubt a vet put it on.
Click to expand...

You'd be amazed at what a vet placed cast can look like in just a few days with an active young dog.

No one should leave any small child unsupervised with a dog. (let alone a recently rescued dog with a questionable behavior history with a tiny baby) Accidents happen easily. I've always had big dogs and we've had several instances in which someone ended up pretty badly hurt / requiring sutures where the dog meant no harm at all.
 
WPXI TV says that a man adopted the dog......got it medical help.
The dog was in pain........that was a 'homemade splint' and broken leg was not set properly.
The dog was NOT eating.
The dog is not being blamed.
Just shown a leg with a new cast from a vet on the husky.
The huskey already looks better.
Something seems 'off' with the mother.
All 4 dogs had no shots, no licenses, I think we will be hearing more.
 
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